Hollyleaf and Ashfur
by Crowfeather's girl
Summary: What happens when Hollyleaf falls for Ashfur just before he finds out her and her littermates big secret? Rated T for violence and Heartbreak.
1. Chapter 1

Hollyleaf x Ashfur

Hollyleaf deposited her prey, a vole and a sparrow, onto the fresh-kill pile.

A warm breeze blew through Hollyleaf's black pelt. She shivered, looking around the camp.

Ashfur sat under the Highledge, watching her. She blinked in confusion, her heart pounding. _He's looking at me! _Hollyleaf's pelt warmed.

"Hollyleaf!" Birchfall's demanding yowl sounded from across the clearing. "The preys going to die of old age by the time you get out there!"

Hollyleaf growled in frustration as she followed Birchfall's hunting patrol out of the thorn barrier for the second time that day.

. . .

Hollyleaf closed her eyes as Ashfur lapped at her pelt. A raindrop spattered on her nose. "Mouse-dung!" Ashfur muttered as the sky opened up upon them.

Rain drummed down on them. Hollyleaf bolted after Ashfur, heading for the warriors den. She yowled in surprise as she slipped in the mud, skidding across the clearing.

"Mouse-dung!"

Hollyleaf sat up in her nest. "The roof is leaking." Berrynose muttered. Hollyleaf sighed. Ashfur sat up in his nest, narrowing his eyes as a raindrop fell in between them. "Rain." He grumbled as he stretched. Hollyleaf nodded in agreement and began to wash. She looked around after she was done.

"Missed a spot." Ashfur rasped his tongue over her back. Hollyleaf's heart stopped for a moment.

Cloudtail raised his head, his tail flicking irritably. "Would you go, and leave the rest of us in piece! Worse then a bunch of Badgers!" He grumbled.

Embarrassment scorched her fur and she pushed her way through the entrance to the warriors den. Hollyleaf looked around, watching Ashfur pad over to the Highledge.

"Hey, Ashfur! Do you want to share a piece of Fresh-kill!" she called. Ashfur nodded his head, his eyes clearing. Hollyleaf trotted up to the Fresh-kill pile and choose a juicy Rabbit.

Hollyleaf bounded back to Ashfur, setting the Rabbit down in front of him and settling down. Ashfur licked her ear and took a bite. Brambleclaw glared at Ashfur from the Highledge where he was organizing patrols. After the Rabbit was gone, they both stood up, stretching.

"Hunting now?" Hollyleaf mewed.

"Sure." Ashfur led the way out of camp. "Where to?" Ashfur looked around.

"How about Sky Oak?" Hollyleaf suggested. Ashfur nodded and padded ahead of her. They stopped at the Sky Oak. Ashfur turned toward her. Hollyleaf's green eyes danced. Ashfur pressed himself against her, wrapping his body around her. Hollyleaf let out a purr as Ashfur rasped his tongue over her ears.

"I love you Hollyleaf." He purred.

"I love you too, Ashfur." Hollyleaf whispered as she crouched down. Ashfur licked her between the ears as he mounted her.

"Forever." He whispered.

(A/N: I know, it's short, sorry I was writing this at 3 a.m)


	2. Chapter 2

Hollyleaf x Ashfur

Chapter 2

Hollyleaf padded into camp, her pelt brushing Ashfur's as they dropped their kill onto the pile.

They made their way to the warriors den, Ashfur breaking away to go on patrol. Hollyleaf shrugged and went back to the fresh-kill pile, picking out a juicy mouse.

A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. Then another followed. Huge raindrops spattered the ground as a clap of thunder sounded. Lightning flashed again, striking a tree at the edge of the hollow. Red flames leapt from the leaves, spreading the rest of the forest.

"The forest is on fire!" Hollyleaf yowled. Hollyleaf soon found her brothers, and all three of them sped out of camp, only to be blocked at the thorn barrier by a fallen tree.

"We have to find a place to stay until the fire dies down!" Lionblaze screeched.

"No." Squirrelflight's mew sounded behind them. Her pelt blended into her surroundings. Smoke billowed up from behind them as the fire crept closer.

"There's another way out, just climb up these rocks." Squirrelflight demanded. Hollyleaf followed her mother up the rocks, her paws weighing her down with exhaustion.

They came to the edge of a cliff, just as Ashfur appeared at the other side.

"Help me push this branch into the flames, Ashfur!" Squirrelflight called.

Ashfur's gaze lingered on Hollyleaf as he took the branch up in powerful jaws and jammed it into the narrowing patch where Hollyleaf and her brothers' huddled.

Sadness lingered in his gaze as he looked back at Hollyleaf, ignoring everybody else.

"Their father isn't here to help them now!" He sneered at Squirrelflight.

"Your quarrel with Brambleclaw has got to stop!" She hissed. "You have to realize I'm his mate, not yours! You have to stop trying to punish him!" she screeched in anger.

Ashfur laughed. "I couldn't care less about Brambleclaw. It's not my fault he's mates with a faith-less she-cat. I know you think I've never forgiven Brambleclaw for stealing you from me, but you're wrong, and so is every cat that thinks that. My quarrel is with _you_, Squirrelflight."

Hollyleaf felt her throat close up, choked with anger and sadness for Ashfur.

_He loved my mother once!_

"All those moons ago, Ashfur. I didn't realize you were this upset." Squirrelflight said softly.

"_Upset!"_ Ashfur spat. "I'm not _upset_! You have no idea how much pain I was in. It was like being cut open everyday, bleeding out onto the stones. Even after I found new love, I still feel like that sometimes." He gazed steadily at Hollyleaf and his eyes clouded.

"Now I will make you feel _real _pain." His sad gaze lingered on Hollyleaf, as if saying he was sorry about what he was about to do. "What better way to show you my pain then to watch your own kit's die in front of you?"

Squirrelflight scowled at him. "Kill them then. You won't hurt me."

Hollyleaf stared at her mother in horror. Ashfur's eyes stretched wide with disbelief as he stared at Hollyleaf.

"If you want to hurt me, find a better way, because they are not my kits." Squirrelflight snarled. "You're lying." Ashfur choked. Hollyleaf felt Lionblaze stiffen beside her. "No, I'm not. Did you see me give birth? Did I nurse them? Did I stay in the nursery until they were apprentices? _No_!" Squirrelflight spoke softly. "Do the Clans' know?" "No." "I'm telling." Ashfur turned tail and sped through the burning undergrowth.

Hollyleaf felt panic enfold her as she walked slowly across the branch, her head spinning with dizziness. Hollyleaf collapsed on the burned grass, barring her teeth at Squirrelflight as she came near. Hollyleaf stalked away, her paws heavy, her head aching.

Squirrelflight had lied to them.


	3. Chapter 3

Hollyleaf x Ashfur

Chpt 3

Hollyleaf stumbled through the barren land. The fire that raged through the forest a half-moon ago had taken its toll on the forest by the lake. The trees were charred, their leaves burned right off. The full moon had started to rise, washing the forest in its white light.

Hollyleaf tasted the air. She followed Ashfur's trail. The gray warrior had not sworn secrecy and planned to tell every cat their secret at the gathering that night.

Ashfur stopped at the Windclan border and paused to take a drink from the stream. He planned to go to the gathering alone that night. He took a long drink from the river. _Perfect!_

Hollyleaf crouched down, her slightly swollen belly brushing the ground. She bunched her muscles, and leapt out of the blackened fern, landing squarely in the middle of his back. Ashfur yowled in surprise "I won't let you tell my secret, Ashfur." Hollyleaf growled in his ear. Ashfur rolled over, squashing her. All the breath was forced out of her body.

Hollyleaf kicked him, leaping up. "I have too." Sorrow clouded his eyes. "She must suffer the way she deserves."

Hollyleaf pinned him down, snarling in his face.

"What about me then!"

"I love you, but Squirrelflight must suffer. She lied to you too." He gasped. Hollyleaf looked back at him, grief clouding her eyes.

"I'm sorry." She whispered as she slashed her claws across his throat.

"I will always love you, no matter what." He gasped again, blood welling up across his throat. " "I will see you in Starclan, but I cannot let you betray my secret." She leapt off him as he grew limp beneath her paws. She leapt off him, guilt and grief weighed her paws down as she pushed him into the stream, letting his body fall on the stepping stones.

"Good-bye my love, until Starclan." Hollyleaf whispered as she plunged back into the forest.


	4. Chapter 4

Hollyleaf x Ashfur

Chpt 4

Hollyleaf stared around in dismay as hisses and growls erupted around the clearing. The full moon shone on the tiny island, illuminating the cats on the island, their pelts bristled. _Why! I just gave my own secret away! WHY! _

Breezepelt bared his teeth in a snarl, his mother hissed and swiped at her mate, Crowfeather. The Clan leaders looked stunned. Firestar sat still as a rock on his perch as he watched, trying to register what just happened.

"Is it true?" Firestar's mew rang throughout the island. He glared down at Squirrelflight and Leafpool.

"I have kept this secret for too many moons." Squirrelflight said, regret edged her voice. Brambleclaw hissed in anger and clawed at the ground. "You kept this a secret from me! Why!" Without waiting for an answer, he turned his back on her.

Firestar's green eyes glinted with anger. "We'll deal with this at home. Thunderclan lets go!" he leapt down from his perch, rounding his cats up. Hollyleaf followed her Clan slowly, her head spinning as she realized what she just did. She gasped for breath, feeling sick.

"Are you ok?" Squirrelflight came up behind her, pressing her flank against her, trying to steady her.

"I'm fine! Go away!" Hollyleaf snarled at her. Hurt sparkled in her eyes, but she padded away.

. . .

"You have broken the Medicine cat Code as well as the Warrior Code." Firestar's mew was as cold ice. Cats clustered around the Highledge as he spoke to Leafpool.

"You have trained Jayfeather to be a Medicine cat and his training is complete. You must step down as Medicine cat."

Dismay sparkled in Leafpool's eyes. Leafpool nodded and padded away to the Medicine cat den to clear her nest away, her tail dragging in the dust.

Hollyleaf sat in the shadows. Deathberries lay on a leaf by her side. Leafpool stiffened as she scented Hollyleaf.

"Hollyleaf?" Leafpool sounded wary.

"You ruined my life Leafpool. I want you to die." Leafpool's eyes widened.

"Eat these Deathberries!" Hollyleaf shoved them at her.

"I already killed Ashfur, I'm not afraid to kill you!" Leafpool's eyes stretched wider.

"You killed him!"

"Of course I killed him! And now I'm going to kill you!"


End file.
